And it worked–magnificently from a political standpoint, shamefully from a moral standpoint. The black left almost immediately dropped its skepticism towards Clinton and embraced him as a hero; their reverence for Clinton helped him secure a second term in November 1996, and their support for his pro-quota administration remained strong throughout his tumultuous second term. As we learned last week, that admiration still endures some five years after he left the White House.

The intense black admiration for Clinton is inextricably linked to his stance on quotas a decade ago. The black left regarded GOP criticism of quotas as nothing more than raw racism, a right-wing attempt to re-establish so-called "white privilege" in America. To the black left, there was no such thing as legitimate or rational objections to racial quotas, set-asides, or preferences: in their worldview, all critics of quotas were racist bigots hellbent on destroying policies that were "necessary tools" to combat antiblack discrimination. By defending quotas, Clinton made himself the hero of the black left’s narrative. It’s not unusual, then, that he received a hero’s welcome last week.